Mark Wilson

Canon 7D, Sigma 120-400mm 4.5-5.6
352mm, f / 6.3, 1/640 s, ISO 500
Back again in my hometown, went for a walk, found that shrub with hundreds of bees on and around it, and thought I could stay there for a while, get my camera off the backpack and practise a little bit.
-Felix Vigl

My stepson Jason shot this when playing with my camera. Looks great, except for the High ISO noise. He shot it at 1600, but it came out nice nonetheless.
Camera Pentax k-x
Lens 18-55mm kit lens
f/7.1
shutter 1/1250
-Nick Giardina

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This is my entry for the spring first breath
I took this photo with my sony ericsson phone
around 4 o'clock after it rained.
-Gorgie Wong

I took this with my Nikon D3000 with my 200mm lens at f5.6 and 1/80 with my iso at 400.
I wanted to take a sunny picture but Pittsburgh's general atmosphere did not comply. However the rain made my pear tree's flowers look quite nice.
-Arthur Cornell

Picture of Bluebells flowering, taken in May 2008 in the Royal Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, England.
Taken with Sony a100, with stock 18-70 lens @50mm focal length
f/5.6, ISO Auto (250)
-Lee Taylor

This is a picture of some lovely blooming flowers on a redbud tree in my backyard. I used the macro setting on my camera to focus in closely and capture this shot in the midday sun.
Nikon Coolpix S570
Focal Length: 5
f/2.7
ISO 200
-Evan Luckow

Canon XS
18-55mm Kit Lens
f/4.5
1/80 sec.
ISO-400
I have to give my wife credit for this shot actually. It was taken a couple of days after potting this Anemone that we got from a local hardware and landscape retailer. Nothing fancy, but I thought detail in the center of the flower was striking. The saturation was bumped up about 5 percent, but no other editing was performed.
-Allen Yates

Camera: Canon Rebel T1i
Lens: Canon EF-S 18-55mm IS
ISO: 100
Aperture: f/14.0
Focal Length: 18 mm
I saw some blossoms starting to open on a tree in my backyard and thought they looks really cool, it was a cloudy but bright day so I laid on the ground, pointed up and started shooting.
-Anthony May

Camera: Lumix DMC-GH1
Mode: Aperture Priority Mode
Lens: Lumix G Vario 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 (Micro 4/3)
Focal Length: 78mm (156mm 35mm equivalent)
Aperture: f/5.8
ISO: 320
Exposure Time: 1/800
Exposure Compensation: -0.33 Stops
Shooting Mode: RAW full quality.
In-Camera Film Mode: Standard: Contrast -2. Saturation +/- 0, Sharpness +1, Noise Reduction -2
Post-Production: In Aperture 3, contrast added, vignetting added, saturation and vibrance added.
I do the post work to make up for the decreased contrast on the in camera settings, which I do to gain dynamic range.
Some wildflowers in Santa Cruz, CA. I used a telephoto lens (78mm) to compress the space a bit and do strange things with the depth of field. This is on a slope and the image is compressed on the z-axis by lens distortion so flowers that appear on different focal planes but actually are on the same one are in focus, yet flowers that appear to be between them in z-space are out of focus...creating a weird effect.
-Benjamin Bunch

This is the first blossom on a tree in my front yard. That specific tree I've considered cutting down many a time as it's precariously placed where it's nearly blocking the gate to my fence, but I haven't had the heart. I shot it with my Power Shot A1100IS on Auto, and did basic editing with Photoshop CS3.
-Tim Todd

magnolias are only around for a few days of spring so i caught one before it faded away
camera: nikon d5000
lens: 18-55mm
editied exposure and brightness
-James Maloney-Hawkins

This photo was taken on Tuesday at Shinjuku-gyoen in Tokyo using my old Nikon D50 and an 18-200mm lens. The clouds finally cleared after a snoggy weekend and I got to get out and do a little hanami and take some photos. Not much to say in the way of technique, just one of about 200 shots I grabbed during the course of the afternoon.
-John de Perczel

I used a Kodak Zi8 with a cracked screen and a magnetic macro lens I bought from some place in China. The cracked screen forces me to use the rule of two thirds since I can't see the middle of the screen. These were all shot after a spring rain.
-David Ancira

Taken with a Nikon D60 with a 50mm f/1.8D lens. iso @ 100. f/1.8. 1/800 shutter. shot on manual mode. Free lens technique used for this photo.
-Will Larney

Canon EOS 50D
Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 100 mm
ISO Speed: 320
No special technique was used. I was "shooting from the hip" while I walked around campus.
Only editing was an Auto White-balance adjustment in gimp and some softening trickery.
-Matthew Katzenberger

It was taken with a Nikon D200 with the 18-70 stock lens@18mm, ISO 100, 1/200s, f7.1.
Part of my job sometimes is to randomly go out and take photos, which is quite good, because it's official and productive slack-off! :)
So I took the opportunity and I was shooting for the challenge too.
The shot is not straight out of the camera, I was fiddling around with it in photoshop. Blurred the edges a bit, and gave it a little HDR look. (it's not a HDR)
I had to lie in the mud to get this shot, but it was fun.
Hope you like it,
Best,
-Tisza Shoes

Camera: Canon SX10 IS
f/ 5.7
ISO 80
Exposure 1/60
Shot in Landscape mode
The image was shot during a vacation in Torun, Poland. The wall you see in the background is actually the outer wall of the local castle.
Marie-Louise Overgaard

I stepped out of work in Charleston, SC and saw this flower window basket at a local coffee shop. It was a perfect reminder that spring has returned!
Shot with a Canon T2i - with a canon 50 mm f 1.8 lens. SS 1/80 ISO 400 Aperature 1.8
-Jay Motley

I used a Canon EOS 50D with a Lensbaby "The Muse" and a macro filter. These lens are manual focus, so I spent quite a while leaning over flowers in a public park trying to figure out the focus. This was taken in North Little Rock, Arkansas at the Old Mill.
-Windy Richardson

My son enjoying playing in the green grass in the front yard. I rested the camera (no tripod) on the walkway and shot up through the grass.
Canon Powershot SD900
Color Rep: sRGB
Shutter Speed: 1/403 sec.
Lens Aperture: F/4.9
No Flash
Focal Length: 23mm
Exposure Time: 1/400 sec.
I took the shot in manual mode and turned on vivid colors and changed to landscape mode. I changed the exposure
-Mark Rici

Our french bulldog Sammy seems to have a particular interest in our backyard's first daffodils of the season. I caught the moment early Thursday morning with my S90 on manual focus, @ f2 with a 1/80" exposure time.
-Jesse Oliveri

Taken with a Canon 500D & Kit Lens, 1/200, ISO100
One of the first Daisy's on the Lawn.
-Charlie Davis

Date Taken: 04/08/2010
Camera: Canon 7D
Lens: Canon EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS USM
After a hash winter, I thought my herbs won't be coming back but the mints decide to peak out from all the dead branch. I just grab the camera, get close and snap away.
-Serena Le

So here it is, a reminder of spring training on the high school road team years ago, and a promise of epic rides and winter-weight loss tomorrow (really, I swear).
Shot with my Sony a100, at f/4, 1/400sec, ISO 80, using a Phoenix macro lens and manual focus. No flash. No tripod.
-Noah Montena

Found this while leaving my house for one of my first bike rides of the season. First lady bug I saw this season as well.
Canon T2i w/ Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.5
ISO 100
F 2.8
1/160
Post was channel mixer in CS4, and then some sharpness from Lightroom.
-Stan Deeks

Camera: Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28
F-stop: f/4
Exposure: 1/200 sec
Focal length 19 mm
Metering Mode: Pattern
Photo: Spring's First Breath to me should be the moment when ice/snow melts and dews form on the greening first leaves of the season. But unfortunately, in Malaysia, there's no changing of seasons so this is what I think spring should look like :)
-Angel Kho

Camera: Canone Eos 5d mk II
Lens: Canon EF 100mm 2.8 Macro
ISO: 160
Aperture: 6.3
Shutterspeed: 1/400
The Picture is taking in a park close to were I live in Denmark. i saw this on my way back from the park, where i had been shooting a lot of flowers and buds, but this was the best one of the day.
-Kasper Hemme

Spring reminds me of new animals...this picture reminded me of new life blossoming as this puppy is only six weeks old and very confused on how to get up the stair (he finally got it). Nikon D700 via 80-200 2.8ED. Shot data = 200mm F2.8 1/8000 @ 1250ISO aging and sharpening added in lightroom
-Wesley Bramlett

Camera: Casio EX-FC100
Exposure: .003 sec 1/400
f/4.5
32.1mm
ISO 100
I am in no means a photographer (I just started with these challenges to get better), but I was walking down the street at my university on a lovely day and saw these beautiful flowers just blooming. I've been toying around with the macro and decided to take a shot of the flowers from where I was standing.
-Rajiv Khattar

I took this real quick in my front yard in San Diego with my Canon Powershot SD1200. It was just a quick shot for the day. I'm doing a daily photo blog for 365 days, this was my shot for Wednesday.
-Levon Monte

Camera: Canon EOS 40D
F-stop: f/13
Exposure Time: 1/750 sec.
Focal Length: 135 mm
Small contrast adjustments made in CS4 RAW File Editor, and then a black border added to enhance that contrast. Beyond that, nothing on the photo was touched except for resizing.
Walking around one of the local parks, I noticed a small grouping of tulips amongst what was otherwise a massive pile of dead brush. The bottom half of the photo portrays the new life of Spring, while the top half portrays the old dead life of Winter.
-Brenton Pahl

I took this picture on my deck where bees and wasps have invaded. They were looking for a place to setup shop and I took the time to setup some shots! I was out there for quite sometime trying to get them in focus using the Macro lock of my Sigma telephoto lens. Had to use the fastest shutter speed of my camera to get the wings to stop, and manual focus because AF was too slow! Additionally tracking them can be a challenge.

My Daughter has always love dandelions, and never fails to find one. On this our first walk of the spring with the K10D in hand, She finds her first one of the season and delightfully shoves it into her little nose. Classic for any parent. My Camera is a Pentax K10D , F-Stop f/11, Speed 1/750sec,ISO-400 ,Lens At 300mm.
-Jennie Hess

Model: Canon EOS 1000D
Shutter Speed: 62/100000 second
Aperture: F/4.5
Focal Length: 29 mm
ISO Speed: 200
This was taken at the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. The first cherry tree of the season to bloom. As you can see all other trees have yet to bloom and i thought i made great contrast.
At first i was annoyed at the couple because they were in my shot since i really liked this angle, but in the end i think it worked fine.
-Adam Sleem

Taken with a Nikon D80,
18-135 lens
ISO 200
To take the picture I put the camera into macro mode, jumped on top of the wall next to the tree, zoomed right into the bud just to the point were the it was almost too close to focus with my lens and hit the shutter button. I then cropped and slightly adjusted in Apature.
-Jonathan Watson

Equipment: Canon 500D with Canon EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS Lens, Exposure: 1/250 sec, Aperture: f/5.6, ISO Speed: ISO-400, Focal length: 250mm
While I was taking an afternoon walk I notice a bee and decided to take a photo. However there was something lurking.
-Mitja Gomboc

Shot with my Sigma 18-50 2.8 lens on a Canon 450D, Av priority
ISO 100, f/2.8 TV:1/800
I'm looking at this tree every morning since i've moved into this new apartment. I had to shoot it as it is the perfect incarnation of the warm and sunny weather coming back.
-Nicolas Poullot

Shot of a bud in my wife's garden. Seemed like a chilly, classic New England morning - a little cloudy and overcast. I thought that this represented the coming of spring despite the muted feel of the morning.
Taken with Nikon D40 with 35mm f1/8 lens at ISO 200 and f5.8. Performed post processing with Apple Aperture - just a little tweaking of the color and a crop.
-Jason Sargent

Spring came a week early here in Virginia. That means that the Crazy Squirrel showed up in our backyard. He jumps and flips and runs
around in ways that keeps us constantly amused. He'll spend the whole summer playing around our bird feeder.
Nikon D700 taken with 70-300 G ED VR
Taken at F5.6, 1/200, 300mm with an ISO of 400 through a semi-clean window
-Louis Wise

In Texas, Spring is marked by the arrival of bluebonnets. The highways are lined with long fields of the official state flower. At 70 to 80 miles per hour, they take on a colorful blur, but up close the real beauty of the petals is amazing. I stopped and took this shot on the way home on Friday, lying on my belly in the grass. The late afternoon sunlight was just right for a close-up. During post-processing, I applied the "Orton Effect" to get the look I wanted. The Orton Effect is the merging of a super sharp image and a blurry image of the same subject.
Shot summary:
—Nikon D40X
—18-55mm kit lens (46mm actual focal length)
— macro setting
—F/8
—1/80 sec
—ISO 100
—post processing software: PSP-7
-Dudi Lynn

I used a Nikon D60 with a normal 18-55mm lens. Basically it was waiting for nice sunny day and playing with the focus. My main goal was to get as close as I can without going out of focus.I used the outdoor settings with the camera. This was one of the better ones that turned out. Enjoy =^.^=
-Ian Kriss

Snapped this shot last Sunday. Typically, Dogwoods are the one of the first trees to bloom for spring. I saw the sun catch me as I walked under the branches and turned my camera up for the quick shot.
Equipment:
Canon 7D
Stock 28-135 lens
1/250 fps, f/20, iso 3200
Location: New Brunswick, NJ
-Josh Pearson

Spring to me means really appreciating the experience of getting outside again.
I shot this on a Nikon D5000 with a 50mm lens at f/3.5, ISO 200 and 1/2000 sec.
-Sharon Hardy

This picture was shot using my Canon Rebel XTI with 55-250mm IS lens @ 250mm focal length. ISO 100 with f/5.6 and 1/250s shutter speed. Saw this outside my window and figured it was a good indicator of spring
-Frank Olszewski

This is a photo of the flowers on one of the many dogwoods at Valley Forge National Park. I used a Sony Alpha 350. Settings: F/22, 1/125, 75mm. Not much technique involved with this. The only real issue was the amount of sunlight coming in from kind of in front of my right shoulder, meaning I needed a pretty small F-stop to keep it from getting washed out. I probably could have gone a bit faster with the shutter, but then the branches would have been black.
-Tolsun Waddle

I shot this photo during my trip to botanical garden in Europe (Prague city) during the Easter. There were only few people around because most of them prefered going to a zoo near by. I found this small flowers behind tree and bush and I was in love with it.
Camera: NIKON D3000
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/80 s
Aperture: 5.0
Focal Length: 52mm
Flash Used: No
-Sarka Sevciková

There's a landscape arboretum south of Minneapolis, and I've taken
some of my favorite photos there. When I saw this flowering apricot
tree, I thought the blossoms were the best I'd get, but as I
approached, I realized the tree was swarming with bees. It took a
little patience to get one who sat still long enough to snap the shot,
but they were more interested in the pollen than me and my camera.
I used an Olympus Stylus 1010, f/4.3, 1/800 sec, ISO-80, exposure bias -0.3
-Beth Knutson

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I used a Nikon D3000 with an 18-55mm lens. f/5.6, Exposure time of 1/160 and an ISO of 1600.
This is our bobble-body frog that usually sits on our toilet and bounces whenever we flush, but it took a nice break to smell the flowers on our windowsill when the sun came up this morning. My wife had the idea to suspend it with string to make sure the spring of the frog is visible. Hence, "spring."
-Michael Lawson

This is from Mission Trails Park in San Diego.
5D ISO 200 Aperture was at f/2.8 Shutter speed was 1/640. Handheld.
Also from Mission Trails.
5D ISO 400 Aperture was at f/5.6 Shutter speed 1/200. Also handheld.
-Joseph Baltazar

camera: Nikon D3000
lens: Nikon AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm
shooting mode: auto
This is a flower that sprung up in the front of my house this week. I took the picture while laying on the ground.
-Mike Howe

f/25 - 1/15s - ISO 100 - 18-55@55mm - Canon EOS Rebel XS
I found this really beautiful path while out running and it was surrounded by tall yellow flowers, I remembered the shooting challenge and returned the next day. I felt the composition was really beautiful with the snaking path outlined by the foliage.
-Modest Mouse

Nikon D90
18-55mm VR - Reverse Mount Macro
Vivitar 283 Flash with homemade diffuser
ISO 200
Exposure: 1/160
Aperture: Manually set1/4 open with reverse mount technique
Lens set to 24mm reversed
Full Manual Mode on camera
This picture was taken outside in bright sunlight. Newly budding tree was covered with Asian Beetles which presented this photo opportunity. The background is blacked out due to the shoe flash firing and macro setup. Technique used was "Poor Man's Macro" which uses adapter to mount lens backwards on camera allowing high magnification.
-Cody Overton

Camera - Nikon D80
Lens - 50mm 1.4G Nikkor AF-S
ISO - 400
F-stop - 1.4
Exposure - 1/125 sec
Unfortunately, in Dallas, its a few weeks after the literal "first breath" of spring, but that doesn't mean its Summer yet. This tulip was about a week past its prime, but the black tile background against a restaurant wall in Addison Circle gave the bright red flower the pop that, in my eyes, says "Hello Spring!". Bursting out of the dark winter background, this goregous tulip shows off its colors with pride.
-Shadee Marzban

This is my first ever entry into the Gizmodo photo challenge - and am still learning my camera. This photo was taken with my new Canon Rebel XS with 55-250mm IS lens. ISO 400 with f/22.6 and 1/500s shutter speed. I was trying to interpret challenge in a way other than nature, and I thought, what better sign to ring in spring than with baseball. This is the foul poll at the Honeycut Park in Fayetteville, NC.
-Daniel Klecka